Noblesville, IN Home Business: Zoning & Home Occupation Permits (2026)

The City of Noblesville's Unified Development Ordinance addresses home-based businesses in § 159.122. Division (A) states home occupations shall be a permitted use in all residential zoning districts except as otherwise restricted in this chapter, but division (B) conditions that permission on a permit: home occupations require a permit from the Director of Planning and Development, subject to the restrictions that follow. The first restriction, division (B)(1), requires that the primary use of the structure or dwelling unit remain residential and that the operator of the home occupation remain a resident in the dwelling unit, so an absentee owner cannot lease a house purely to run a business from it.

Under the permitting procedure in division (D), an applicant files with the Director of Planning and Development, pays the fee set in Appendix A's Schedule of Fees, and receives a written decision within fifteen calendar days. Approved permits run for one year and may be renewed annually if there has been no violation, with renewal requests due one month before expiration. A denial, revocation, or non-renewal can be appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals within ten calendar days, and only the applicant or a property owner within 660 feet may file that appeal.

Division (D)(8) also authorizes the Director to field-check permitted home occupations annually, and division (D)(10) confirms that city approval of a permit does not override a homeowners association's own recorded rules against home businesses.